


The Mitochondria is the Powerhouse of the Cell

by NovemberSuns



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crush at First Sight, Gen, M/M, Yoo Kihyun Is Whipped, hyunghyuk and hoseok love to tease kihyun, hyunwoo has surprisingly good advice, sweater paws
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22366969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovemberSuns/pseuds/NovemberSuns
Summary: Jooheon’s cute bio major friend is going to give Kihyun a full-on heart attack at the ripe old age of twenty-two. And his so-called friends are just going to watch him kneel over and die.college/university AU where Kihyun is smitten with Changkyun's cuteness and his friends are not helping him.
Relationships: Im Changkyun | I.M/Yoo Kihyun, implied showho - Relationship, side hyunghyuk
Comments: 10
Kudos: 134
Collections: Bookmarks





	The Mitochondria is the Powerhouse of the Cell

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction!
> 
> Please DO NOT repost my work!
> 
> Based on this [Tumblr post](https://mynameismeowmeow.tumblr.com/post/180052516283/person-a-that-is-it-i-am-donating-my-body-to)

Kihyun meets Changkyun for the first time at the cafe where Minhyuk part-times. Minhyuk introduces the shy, quiet freshman with fluffy hair as Jooheon’s new best friend from one of his gen ed classes. Changkyun offers Kihyun a small smile and a quiet, “Hi, nice to meet you,” and Kihyun’s heart melts. The boy’s sweater is slightly too large for him, and his cheeks puff out when he blows on his latte to cool it. Kihyun wants to wrap him up in a blanket and spoon-feed him soup.

“Kihyun’s going to be an accountant,” Minhyuk explains with a huge grin after the initial introductions are made. “So he’s already got half of a stick up his ass.”

Kihyun scowls at Minhyuk but Changkyun lets out a small snort. Kihyun hates that he finds it endearing. He focuses on scowling at Minhyuk instead.

“Says the person studying Lit,” he grumbles.

“I’m a poet,” Minhyuk retorts. “You’d be so lucky.”

Kihyun ignores him. “What are you studying?” He asks Changkyun instead.

“Biology,” comes the quiet reply.

After they chat for a bit, Changkyun has to leave for his afternoon lecture, and Kihyun gets a text from Hoseok nagging him about their coffee. Minhyuk teases Kihyun about being a good housewife. Kihyun gives him the finger in response. Minhyuk reciprocates cheerfully when his manager’s back is turned.

“Tell Hoseok I put some extra love in his mocha!” Minhyuk shouts at Kihyun’s back as he leaves.

“I’ll tell him you poisoned it.” Kihyun retorts with a wave.

When Hoseok asks him why he’s so chipper, Kihyun makes up some bullshit about finding five bucks on the sidewalk.

The second time Kihyun meets Changkyun, he's at Hyungwon, Jooheon, Hyunwoo, and Minhyuk’s house party. Hyungwon’s got some sort of dance-pop crossed with EDM blasting through their thrifted sound system as drunken college students mill around their cramped house. Hyungwon, as usual, is half-passed out in Minhyuk’s lap while Hyunwoo sips a beer on the couch. Hoseok had disappeared with a friend from one class or another an hour ago. Kihyun is chatting with Jeonghan when he spots Changkyun standing awkwardly by himself in a corner. The younger boy grips his half-empty bottle of beer like a lifeline. Kihyun excuses himself to check in on him.

“Are you having a good time?” he half yells at Changkyun.

Changkyun nods. “Hyungwon’s got good taste in music,” he shouts back.

The two of them stand quietly together for a moment. Around them, the party continues to rage. Hyunwoo’s been roped into dancing with some girls and Hoseok records them while giggling. Jooheon’s yelling something enthusiastically at Jackson Wang, and Hyungwon is back to fiddling with the playlist while Minhyuk slumps against him. Kihyun points at Minhyuk’s bad attempts to seem sober, and Changkyun laughs.

Kihyun’s about to ask Changkyun if he wants another drink when he feels the boy tense next to him.

“What’s wrong?”

“My ex,” Changkyun replies.

Kihyun follows Changkyun’s line of sight to a skinny guy with a smarmy look on his face. The aftertaste of alcohol in his mouth sours. He tugs on Changkyun’s sweater sleeve. Changkyun gives him a questioning look.

“Follow me,” he mouths.

Changkyun follows him obediently down a hallway and to the backyard. Kihyun glances back to make sure that they haven’t been followed. Chankyun’s ex is nowhere in sight. Reluctantly, Kihyun releases Changkyun’s sleeve.

The backyard is relatively quiet. It’s a small, haphazard mess with half-dead grass and Minhyuk’s pitiful attempts at caring for plants serving as the only greenery. An old litter box with several cracks and a missing chunk lays right next to the sliding door. They walk away from the side of the door with the litter box and stand next to one of Minhyuk’s dead cacti near the fence.

They can hear the thumping of the bass from the house and the vague cacophony of drunk students yelling, but that’s it. Kihyun watches from the corner of his eye as Changkyun takes a deep breath. Changkyun catches his worried glance and offers him a small smile.

“Thanks,” He says after a moment. “He kind of dumped me last week. In public. On the quad.”

“He looks like an ass,” Kihyun replies with a snort.

Changkyun lets out a quiet chuckle. “That’s what Jooheon said.”

“Huh.”

They stand quietly for another moment.

“Who lives here anyway?” Changkyun asks.

Kihyun shrugs. “Minhyuk, Hyungwon, Hyunwoo, and Jooheon are the ones who signed the lease but Hoseok and I probably crash here at least twice a week. We have shitty sound-proofing at our apartment and our neighbors suck.”

Changkyun nods thoughtfully and chews on a corner of his sleeve. Kihyun’s tempted to scold him for being unhygienic.

“Jooheon asked me if I wanted to move in here. Since my ex kicked me out.”

Kihyun frowns. “Where are you living right now?”

Changkyun lets out a deep sigh. “My cousin’s sofa.”

He laughs when he sees the lines on Kihyun’s face from his intense frown.

“I’m moving in tomorrow,” he explains with another laugh when he sees Kihyun’s confused expression. “Don’t worry, mom.”

Kihyun scoffs. “Just take care of yourself, kid,” he bites back.

Changkyun smiles brightly at him. “I will.”

They hang out much more after the house party. Kihyun meets Changkyun at Minhyuk’s cafe when he grabs coffee for Hoseok and Hyunwoo, and then the two of them stroll to the library to study with them. They procrastinate and watch movies together when Kihyun crashes at the house. They huddle under separate blankets on Changkyun’s shitty futon and laugh at whatever ridiculous scenes play out on Changkyun’s laptop screen. Kihyun’s heart always beats a little faster when Changkyun leans into him when he laughs a little too hard.

Changkyun is funny and sarcastic in ways that Kihyun hadn’t expected. The boy has a dry sense of humor and a sharp tongue. He says what he thinks, and he’s not afraid to step on a few toes when he needs to.

“You’re staring again.”

Kihyun nearly falls off his chair in surprise at Hyungwon’s sudden statement. Changkyun, Minhyuk, Hoseok, and Jooheon are playing twister a few feet away. Hyunwoo spins the spinner and makes the calls. Kihyun was trying and failing to do his homework on their lopsided dining table with mismatched chairs. He wonders idly where they managed to find eight different chairs with exactly the same height.

He scowls at Hyungwon. “When did you wake up?” he hisses in reply.

The other man gives him an amused smile. “Since Minhyuk screamed about Hoseok cheating by tripping him. He’s pretty loud.”

Kihyun frowns and goes back to pretending to do his homework. He’s barely able to jot down a few numbers before Hyungwon nudges him. Kihyun shoots his friend a deathly glare. Hyungwon only looks amused as he stares at Kihyun with a knowing smile.

“He’s pretty cute."

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “You’re literally the only person who thinks that Minhyuk is cute.”

“Not Minhyuk. Changkyun. And don’t insult my man.”

“I’ll stop when both of you stop annoying me.”

Hyungwon huffs and rearranges the textbooks he was napping on. “Stop changing the subject. We all know you have a big crush on Changkyun.”

Kihyun swears his heart skips a beat when he stutters, “W-Who me?”

Hyungwon rolls his eyes. “What other tiny maniac stares at him all the time?”

Kihyun frowns. “He just got out of a bad break-up.”

Hyungwon smiles. “So you admit you like him.”

Kihyun narrows his eyes at Hyungwon. Hyungwon smiles back serenely. Kihyun's about to say something snarky to him when he’s distracted by Changkyun laughing. Involuntarily, his head snaps towards the source of the sound. Changkyun sits perched on Hoseok’s back as Minhyuk yells about karma and justice while Jooheon complains about losing again. Changkyun’s eyes are curved into crescents and his cheeks are puffed up as he continues to laugh heartily.

“Whipped,” Hyungwon snickers.

Kihyun throws a pen at him. 

“Kihyun! Hoseok!”

Changkyun is running up to him with all the enthusiasm of a golden retriever and Kihyun thinks he might faint. The boy is wearing yet another oversized sweater. His fingers are curled around the hem of the sleeves as he waves as Kihyun.

“Hi,” Kihyun manages to reply faintly.

Next to him, Hoseok barely supresses a giggle. Changkyun doesn’t seem to notice.

“What are you guys doing later?” Changkyun asks.

“Absolutely nothing,” Hoseok replies for Kihyun.

Kihyun scowls at him. “Just studying, probably,” he amends, shooting Hoseok another glare. “What’s up? Do you need help with something?”

Changkyun smiles. Kihyun thinks he might go blind from the radiance of that grin.

“Jooheon and I were going to study at Minhyuk’s cafe at, like, three,” Changkyun says. “Jooheon thinks he can get some discounted drinks out of Minhyuk. You guys wanna come?”

If anyone is going to get discounted drinks out of Minhyuk, it’s definitely Jooheon. Kihyun weighs his need for cheap caffeine and his need to not dissolve into a pile of pink goo in front of Changkyun.

“He’ll go,” Hoseok chirps. “And I’ll come too! Can’t pass up a chance for possibly free coffee.”

“Sweet! See you guys then!”

And with that, Changkyun is bounding back to wherever he came from. Once Changkyun is gone, Hoseok throws an arm around Kihyun and laughs. Kihyun tries to shrug him off with limited success.

“So Changkyun, huh?” he asks with a wide grin.

Kihyun scowls. “Don’t say a word.”

Hoseok laughs again. “I won’t, for now.”

Kihyun kicks Hoseok under the table when his roommate nudges him teasingly for staring at Changkyun. Minhyuk also sends Kihyun obnoxious winks whenever Changkyun something exceptionally cute. Thankfully, Jooheon remains oblivious. Kihyun is pretty sure he’s going to have an actual heart attack in the near future.

Out of all of his friends, Hyunwoo was the last person Kihyun expected to give him shit about Changkyun. He stares in abject horror at the other man as he continues to inhale his lunch.

“Which one of the brats put you up to this?” he asks after a moment.

Hyunwoo smiles placidly. “It’s pretty obvious, Kihyun. We all have eyes. Why don’t you just ask him out?”

Kihyun ignores Hyungwoo in favor of spearing a dumpling and cramming it into his mouth. It’s been two months since Changkyun moved into the house. Kihyun crashes at the house more often than he did before Chankyun moved in. He can’t help it. The two of them have weekly movie nights, and sometimes Changkyun has a really cool track he wants to listen to with Kihyun.

Even Jooheon has noticed. Kihyun nearly choked on a bagel last week when Jooheon asked if he wanted to move in after his lease expires. Jooheon isn’t dense, but he isn’t very observant either. If Jooheon has noticed and Hyungwoo is bugging him, then Kihyun must be really obvious. He fights the urge to slam his head into the table.

“He just got out of a bad break-up,” He replies steadily, shoving another dumpling into his mouth. He can feel Hyunwoo's searching gaze, but he keeps his eyes firmly planted on the food in front of him.

“It’s been two months and he’s definitely over it,” Hyunwoo counters gently. “Besides, he likes spending time with you. He spends more time with you than the rest of us combined.”

Kihyun frowns and stabs his next dumpling with extra force. Sure, he doesn’t need to spear his dumplings with his chopsticks to eat them, but it feels cathartic to eat them this way.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Hyunwoo continues insistently.

Kihyun shrugs. “He doesn’t even like me that way.”

Hyunwoo looks like he’s trying very hard not to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Just think about it,” he says after a moment. 

Time flies by with Kihyun doing absolutely nothing, and soon enough, the seven of them are gathered at the house to study for finals. Hyunwoo sits cross-legged on the floor with Hoseok sprawled out on his stomach next to him. Jooheon lays on his back with his textbook over his face, mumbling about musical notes and historical dates. Minhyuk sits on the couch flicking through a large stack of flashcards with Hyungwon's feet in his lap while Hyungwon reads a hefty textbook. A little ways away, Changkyun flips through some math textbook while mumbling under his breath.

Kihyun has all of his notes from his required science class spread out on the floor in front of him as he tries to remember the difference between a covalent bond and an ionic bond. He’s already downed his third cup of coffee. He considers downing one more, but he already feels like he’s vibrating out of his skin. One more coffee and he’s sure he’ll be vibrating into another dimension.

Jooheon finally gives up and takes a nap. The heavy textbook dampens some of his snores, but the sound still burrows into Kihyun’s ears and distracts him from reviewing acid-base reactions. He feels his left eyelid twitch in irritation. Why does he have to take a chemistry class anyways? He’s never going to use this information after this class.

“That is IT,” Kihyun snarls. “I’m donating my body to science!”

The entire living room is silent for a few moments. Even Jooheon wakes up and removes his textbook from his face to stare at Kihyun.

“I’m science,” Changkyun mumbles after a few moments.

Kihyun’s entire face is red as he struggles to find an appropriate response. Minhyuk snickers in the background and Hyungwon huffs out a quiet laugh. Hoseok grins at Kihyun with unabashed glee and Jooheon’s eyes dart between Kihyun and Changkyun with barely concealed interest. Hyunwoo continues to study, unbothered.

Kihyun finally manages to raise his head to meet Changkyun’s gaze. Changkyun’s lips are quirked up in a small smile and his eyes are gentle. He smiles wider when Kihyun exhales noisily.

“You? Me? That place with the best fried-chicken at twelve on the Saturday after finals?” Changkyun asks.

The tips of Kihyun’s ears are red as he answers, “Yeah.”

He ignores Minhyuk not-so-quietly exclaiming, "Finally!" The only thing that matters is Changkyun's bright, beautiful smile and the promise of a date.

"Finals start in two days," Hyunwoo says without looking up from his work. "Freak out later."

Everyone returns to studying with great panic. Changkyun scoots closer to Kihyun and grins at him.

"I'm looking forward to your donation," he says, giving Kihyun an exaggerated wink.

Kihyun nearly chokes in surprise.

"Die later, I need to pass Modern Literature right now," Minhyuk reprimands sternly.

_Five Months Later_

“I am never going to know peace and quiet again,” Hyungwon proclaims with a deadpan expression as he heaves the last of Hoseok’s boxes onto the growing pile of boxes in the living room.

Jooheon looks at him with a disgusted expression. Kihyun and Hoseok return from locking up Kihyun’s ugly, scratched-up minivan in time to hear Jooheon’s whines.

“I’m clearly the one who’s going to suffer,” he whines petulantly, kicking at one of the box piles. “I’m going to be the only single person in this house. And I have to share a room with Hoseok and Hyunwoo.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Hyunwoo asks, startled.

Hoseok giggles. “You snore.”

Hyunwoo looks vaguely offended and betrayed. “You sleep talk,” he shoots back.

“Why can’t I get my own space?” Jooheon whines again.

“Do you want to sleep in the living room?” Minhyuk asks sweetly. “Because that’s the only space you’re going to get. Unless you want to room with me and Hyungwon.”

Jooheon shudders before straightening and glaring at them. “Why do Kihyun and Changkyun get the whole basement?”

“Because none of you are getting fed otherwise,” Kihyun snaps.

Changkyun latches onto Kihyun’s back and hooks his chin over Kihyun’s shoulder.

“We drew lots,” he points out with a small smirk. “Besides, all of your stuff is already in that room.”

“Yoshi, Gucci, and I deserve better treatment than this,” Jooheon sniffs.

“We already agreed to put two more cat trees in the house and a cat bed in each of our rooms.”

Minhyuk mumbles, “Crazy cat lady,” under his breath. Hyungwon laughs and latches onto Minhyuk as Changkyun had to Kihyun earlier. Jooheon looks up to the ceiling in a display of long-suffering indignity.

“You’re the one who asked if we wanted to move in after our lease was up,” Kihyun reminds him.

Jooheon glares at him. “That was before all of this,” he pauses to gag and gestures at the rest of them, “couple shit happened.”

Kihyun shrugs slightly. “Not my problem.”

Jooheon complains for a few more minutes before stalking off to his room to sulk with his cats. Hyungwon and Minhyuk settle on the couch to cuddle, and Hoseok begins to take his boxes to his new room with Hyunwoo’s help. They can hear Jooheon talking to his cats from the living room.

Kihyun tugs on Changkyun’s arm gently. “We should move my stuff too,” he urges quietly.

Changkyun makes a noncommital noise in response.

“If we don’t get my stuff down by six I’m not making dinner,” Kihyun threatens.

Changkyun pouts but releases Kihyun and grabs a box.

“I didn’t donate my body to this cause,” he whines.

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “The sooner we get everything down, the sooner we can pad out your shitty futon to make it less shitty.”

Changkyun perks up at this. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Kihyun catches Changkyun’s sleeve before he can run off to take the boxes. The other boy turns and gives him a questioning look. Kihyun smiles and gives him a peck on the lips. Changkyun grins back.

“Let’s get moved in,” Kihyun says in a gentler tone than before.

Changkyun laughs and drags Kihyun along with him.

“Whipped,” Hyungwon whispers from the couch, and Minhyuk chuckles in response.

Kihyun not-so-subtly flips them off before grabbing a box and following Changkyun downstairs. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this for months because of Wonho's unfair treatment. Regardless of what happens, Monsta X will always be 7 in my heart. I hope Wonho gets justice for this gross mistreatment and slander.
> 
> Talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/NovemberSuns)!  
> Here is my [CC](https://curiouscat.me/NovemberSuns)!


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